


Progression

by Chaos_Valkyrie



Series: Progression [1]
Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: AU of an AU, Alternate Universe, Always an Ocelot! Heinz, Awkward Flirting, Emotional Constipation, Feral Behavior, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Ocelot!Heinz, Platypus!Perry, Regression, Scent Marking, Secret Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 08:56:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7708831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaos_Valkyrie/pseuds/Chaos_Valkyrie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Ah, Agent P! How nice of you to drop in! I take it you're here to find your fellow agent, hm? Well, I'll let you have him!” Rodney hit a button on his remote control, and a metal door slowly slid up behind Perry. He shivered as a deep growl echoed through the space, and he turned to see Heinz's blue eyes glowing eerily in the low light.</p><p>“My new nemesis, as you can see, isn't feeling himself anymore... thanks to my Regress-inizor! One blast takes any highly trained OWCA agent and turns them back into a mindless animal!” Perry shivered as Heinz growled again at Rodney's cackling. Even as Perry listened, his eyes never left the ocelot, who had finally emerged from the cell and was now moving towards Perry.</p><p>“I can't stand the sight of blood, however, so I'll just leave you two to it!” Rodney declared before flouncing off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Progression

**Author's Note:**

> So, I was working on today's installment, and then this happened. So coupled with the fact that today's installment was running longer than planned, and there was just no good breaking point, I'll post it on Weds. in one big thing. So have this to tide you over.
> 
> Basically, in this one, Perry is a platypus and Heinz has always been an ocelot, never a human. So neither have the 'Agent O' tragic backstories here, but because that's my headspace right now, their personalities are still kinda the same.
> 
> Enjoy some Agent O AU of an AU fluff.

'Did you hear about the new guy? I heard he stopped his nemesis from blowing up the sun!'

'I know! And he's being hosted by the mayor himself!'

'I heard he was the top agent at the East Coast branch!'

'He's so cool! Do you think he dates house cats?'

Agent P, also known as Perry the Platypus, growled under his breath as he tried to tune out the gossipmongers outside his cubicle. He could practically feel the other agents swooning through the thin partition, as they all mooned away over Agent O.

Heinz the Ocelot was a recent transfer from the East Coast HQ. Apparently, he had been their top agent, and after his old nemesis' scheme landed the man a permanent cell in OWCA prison, the agency had transferred him here to act as von Roddenstein's new nemesis.

Perry sighed. He wasn't a competitive platypus, so he didn't care that he now had a 'rival' for the top agent position. He just came in, did his job thwarting the Regurgitator, and then went home to his boys.

But apparently, he was the only one who understood that there was no actual rivalry, at least on his side. Ever since the transfer, the other agents had been buzzing with gossip, fueled by the fact that Agent O couldn't seem to stay more than a few seconds in a room with Perry. Whenever he saw the platypus coming, (which was easy, he stood a good foot over most of the other small animal agents) he'd hurriedly pack up his things and leave. Even at mandatory meetings, he'd sit as far away from Perry as possible and avoid all eye contact, a frown on his furry face.

But what really pissed Perry off was that Heinz was the Agency's new darling towards everyone else. He knew ASL, so he and Carl were constantly seen palling around together. Peter the Panda, in for a special mission, had worked with Heinz and couldn't stop gushing in the break room about how they'd instantly hit it off and how well they worked together. Heinz had shadowed Pinky for another assignment, and now that agent trailed around after Heinz like a...

He wasn't even going to finish that thought. It would be just like HR to suddenly develop mind-reading skills and slap him with another violation, or shudder, another mandatory animal-sensitivity training seminar.

Even Bea, the traitor, had come by his cubicle and talked for over an hour about how sweet the ocelot was, and how nice he was, and had Perry seen him sparring down at the training center? He was so amazing. And all of this was delivered with her signature smugness, like she knew something he didn't.

The only other agent who seemed to dislike the ocelot was Agent D, all due to some (apparently hilarious, he'd heard whispered in the halls) duck joke that Heinz had told in the break room. Everyone knew Derek had no sense of humor, so it came as no surprise that Heinz got slapped with a warning from HR for that one.

Perry heard his wrist communicator buzz, and quickly saved his report before tapping it on. 

“Agent P! We need you for a mission STAT! Please report to Monogram's office,” Carl told him. Perry saluted his wrist, then left the cubicle and hurried up to the Major's office.

“Ah, good, come in, Agent P,” Monogram said after Perry knocked on the door and peeked inside. The major gestured to the wall, where the monitor was already on and showing... Heinz. He growled again under his breath. Was there just no escaping the other agent today?

“We sent out Agent O yesterday to thwart Rodney's latest scheme, and he has yet to return. We called the mayor, but he hasn't seen hide nor hair of Agent O since yesterday morning. Go and find out what Rodney has done with your fellow agent, and rescue him if needs be.”

Perry saluted, quickly leaving the office and heading down to the garage to retrieve his hover-jet. He sighed. This would be just his luck.

*****

Perry slipped into the warehouse through a window, skulking through the shadows towards Rodney's main work space. There was no one in sight, so he decided to quickly cross the open floor towards the workbench where he could see a small, gutted -inizor gleaming in the dim light.

Perry stomach dropped, as did the rest of him, as a large pit opened up beneath his feet, falling ten feet beneath room level. He growled as Rodney started cackling, walking up to stand at the edge with and evil gleam in his eyes.

“Ah, Agent P! How nice of you to drop in!” Perry just gave the man his most unamused expression. “I take it you're here to find your fellow agent, hm? Well, I'll let you have him!” Rodney hit a button on his remote control, and a metal door slowly slid up behind Perry. He shivered as a deep growl echoed through the space, and he turned to see Heinz's blue eyes glowing eerily in the low light.

“My new nemesis, as you can see, isn't feeling himself anymore... thanks to my Regress-inizor! One blast takes any highly trained OWCA agent and turns them back into a mindless animal!” Perry shivered as Heinz growled again at Rodney's cackling. “Unfortunately, I underestimated how much more dangerous Agent O would be in his reverted form, so I need to rebuild my -inizor before I can storm OWCA HQ. Soon, no one will be able to stop me!” Rodney laughed. Even as Perry listened, his eyes never left the ocelot, who had finally emerged from the cell and was now moving towards Perry.

“I can't stand the sight of blood, however, so I'll just leave you two to it!” Rodney declared before flouncing off.

Perry gulped as Heinz slowly stalked towards him, his eyes fixated on the platypus agent. His tail lashed back and forth, his ears perked forward, and he shifted into a crouch, obviously getting ready to strike. Perry didn't like his chances – ocelots were known to be vicious, and Heinz was roughly twice his size. He slowly reached for his grappling hook, hoping that he could get out of the pit before the ocelot decided to lunge...

Too late. Obviously sensing what he was about to do, Heinz launched himself at the platypus, and Perry immediately dropped into a fighting stance, hoping he could at least avoid Heinz's claws...

The ocelot plowed into Perry, knocking the breath out of his lungs as he fell onto his back, Heinz's full weight on top of him. Perry shut his eyes, waiting for the strike...

Wait, what? Was that purring?

Perry opened his eyes to find a furry face mere inches from his own. Upon making eye contact, Heinz's rumble deepened, and he tilted his head happily at the platypus he kept pinned under his paws. 

Perry felt his face redden under his fur as the ocelot reached down and licked several wide swaths up his neck and face. He then lowered his mouth to start nuzzling at Perry's neck, and the platypus wasn't sure whether to be completely mortified or not. He was confused as hell, however, because he'd assumed all this time that the other agent couldn't stand him.

He realized very quickly that he'd been dead wrong, however, as the ocelot started rubbing his head across Perry's shoulders and chest, obviously scent-marking him.

Perry frantically started trying to push the ocelot away, which was not easy given his size and weight. The ocelot mewled unhappily, tightening his grip with his paws, but Perry noticed that Heinz never once used his claws on him. Perry sighed and stopped struggling, causing the ocelot to happily purr and start nuzzling at the back of his neck.

Thinking hard, Perry finally decided that if struggling wouldn't work, maybe another course of action would. He reached up tentatively, and started hesitantly petting Heinz, stroking along the sides of his face and neck. The ocelot paused his scent-marking, his eyes shutting as his purring deepened.

Obviously it was working, Perry thought as he felt the ocelot's grip loosen. He thought about his own host family, and what he seemed to enjoy the most when they petted him. 

He reached up, scratching behind Heinz's ears, which caused the ocelot to lower his head for better access. Perry's fingers slipped to the jut of his jawbone, and the ocelot flat out moaned, causing Perry to redden again for entirely different reasons. With the ocelot now completely distracted, he slid out from underneath him slowly, making sure to keep scratching as he did so.

Once free, Perry jumped to his feet, watching the other agent warily. Heinz made no move to tackle him again, but Perry was cautious as he pulled out his grappling hook and aimed it at the ceiling above the pit's edge.

He never made it. In one quick movement, he felt Heinz grab him very carefully by the scruff of his neck and leap. When his eyes focused again, he found that the other agent's jump had carried them clear over the edge of the pit and back onto the warehouse floor.

The ocelot looked pleased with himself as he carefully dropped Perry his feet. Perry rolled his eyes, petting Heinz on the head a few times, to the ocelot's renewed purring.

“Agent P! How did you escape my trap!” Rodney yelled from his work area, and just like that, feral Heinz returned. With a hiss and a snarl, the ocelot began advancing on the scientist, who gulped and started backing away quickly. Thinking quickly, Perry jumped in front of Heinz, causing the ocelot to pause, tilting his head in confusion. 

'We do not kill our nemesis, no matter how much we'd really like to, Heinz,' he churred at the ocelot. Heinz grumbled in annoyance, and Perry rolled his eyes as he pointed at the other agent. 'No, Heinz. Bad ocelot.'

Heinz pouted, his head lowering at the admonishment. Perry patted him on the head, before turning to the table and starting to box up the blueprints and broken -inizor.

“Hey! You can't just take that! I'm still working on that!” Rodney fumed, but he quickly froze again at Heinz's low warning growl.

“All right, all right, you can have it,” he said huffily. Perry gave him a mocking thumbs up, before jumping down again, invention in tow. He snapped his fingers at Heinz, who happily followed Perry to his hover-jet.

*****

Perry had hoped that his humiliation would end there. He had already planned to leave most everything that happened in the pit out of his report, since he knew that Monogram and Carl would mercilessly tease him if they knew the truth. But apparently, Heinz had different plans.

The ocelot agent had behaved on the trip back to HQ, happily sitting next to Perry and letting the wind run through his fur. But as soon as the hover-jet landed, he stayed glued to Perry's side as he made his way to the major's office to report in, happily purring and occasionally rubbing his head against Perry's back if the platypus didn't move fast enough. Perry kept his best stoic expression on his face, but it did nothing to quell the curious whispers of his peers.

Perry had never been so happy to see Monogram's office before.

“Good work, Agent P, for finding our missing agent!”

Perry held a hand up, gesturing to the box in his hand. He passed it to Carl, who pulled out the blueprints and looked them over carefully.

“A Regress-inizor?” the intern gasped, and Perry pointed at the blueprints, then to Heinz, who was back to scent-marking Perry's shoulder. “And Agent O was hit with it?”

“Great googly moogly!” the major exclaimed. “Carl, get those to the labs at once! Don't worry, Agent P, we'll have our agent back to normal in no time.”

*****

Perry decided that Major Monogram was a lying liar who lied. It had been almost a week now since the incident, and the machine was still not fixed. He knew the scientists in the labs were more than capable of fixing the device, but he was almost certain they were stalling now, trying to draw the situation out as long as possible.

The 'situation' being Perry's large, furry shadow.

Much to everyone's amusement, the ocelot refused to leave Perry's side. He followed the platypus agent everywhere, pouting horribly if Perry left him for a moment. He refused to be left behind on missions, resulting in the near maiming of the Regurgitator twice. Perry had had to be increasingly creative in tricking the ocelot out of following him home at night, luring him into various rooms around the agency and trapping him inside.

Some of the ocelot's former self must still be guiding him, or he had inside help, because Perry had walked in the last two mornings to find Heinz sulkily curled up in his office, tackling the platypus and cuddling him as soon as he realized Perry was back.

Bea told him he was a big grouch for not finding the situation as adorable as everyone else did.

She also told him that before the Incident, she was pretty sure that Heinz had a bit of a crush on Perry, since he would constantly ask Bea and Carl questions about the teal-furred agent.

Perry had huffed and replied, 'Ya think?' motioning to the ocelot purring happily beside him.

But this, this was the final straw.

Perry had awoken this morning warm and content, lying in his pet bed at the Flynn-Fletcher's house. That peace didn't last long, however, as he soon realized the cause of his warmth was the large, purring mass curled up around him. The large purring mass who was currently grooming the platypus, his tongue lapping at the back of his neck and head.

Perry sighed, wondering how this was his lot in life. He churred grumpily, causing Heinz's paws to pin him down a little more forcefully even as his purring deepened. Perry sighed, reaching up to scratch Heinz's jawbone, slithering out of the hold once the ocelot was successfully distracted.

He was grateful that the ocelot was an apparently early riser, since it did make it much easier to sneak out of the house while the family was still asleep.

Reaching HQ, Perry marched angrily into the labs, Heinz in tow, where Carl and a few of the other techs were standing around and giggling over their morning coffees. He growled as he handed the intern a note, inwardly pleased as he watched the teenager deflate.

In simple terms, the note read – 'Fix him or I quit.'

“All right, fine, Agent P,” Carl huffed moodily. He walked over to the bench, picking up the now-working -inizor (Perry knew they had been bluffing) and setting it on reverse, fired it at the happily purring ocelot.

The purring stopped abruptly as the light faded. Heinz's eyes widened as he looked around the room, before his eyes focused with startling intensity on Perry. His face turned horrified, and the last thing Perry heard was a whispered, 'ohmeingott' before the ocelot turned and bolted from the room.

*****

If Perry had thought Heinz elusive before, that was nothing to how the ocelot was now.

The gossip mongers had been disappointed when Perry left the labs to return to his cubicle shadow-free, but business had quickly returned to normal as they started whispering about the newest juicy rumors floating around. Perry had spent the rest of the day in peace, finishing his latest report and even getting to head home early to spend time with the kids.

He walked in the next day to find a sealed envelope on his keyboard, which contained a very carefully worded note from Heinz, apologizing for his all of his actions in the week prior. Perry shrugged, filed the note away in his desk drawer, and carried on with work.

And that was the last Perry saw or heard of the other agent. Even at mandatory meetings, the ocelot made excuses about having to go thwart Rodney rather than attend.

He and Bea even had a fight about the whole affair. She told him that Heinz was only coming into work at times he knew the platypus would be absent. Apparently he was completely mortified by actions around the platypus, and the fact that everyone now knew of his crush for the semi-aquatic agent. Perry shrugged and told Bea that this was all their fault, not his. They were the ones who thought it adorable and refused to change Heinz back, prolonging his embarrassing actions for the sake of their own amusement.

The two didn't speak to each other two days, until Bea huffily entered his office, told him he was right, then stormed back out again.

Over a week had passed, and Perry could – grudgingly – admit to himself that he kind of, maybe, missed Heinz a little bit.

Perry had never been interested in a relationship before. He kept himself busy with work, and had a very limited social circle – namely, Bea and Pinky – whom he was only close to because their host families were friends with each other. Before the Incident, he was perfectly content with the status quo.

But he had to admit, it had been a bit flattering to have someone – someone who obviously knew what a reclusive hardass he was, he knew how the rumor mill painted him – that enamored of him. Especially someone who was reportedly as nice and friendly as Heinz was.

Really, someone as sweet and kind as Heinz was had no business crushing on a stick-in-the-mud like Perry, but now that he'd had time away to think again, he kind of missed having the other agent around. Heinz had been surprisingly good at watching his back on missions, though rather over-protectively. And he did kind of miss the constant purring, it made for a nice background noise...

And honestly, outside of his boys, he didn't think he'd ever had anyone so happy to simply be around him for long stretches of time. And the boys didn't know him the way his peers did, so he wasn't sure if they could be counted.

And don't get him started on waking up to the tongue bath. That had been the most difficult moment all week, pushing the ocelot away when he really wanted to pull him in closer. It was only the obvious consent issue – Heinz not being in his right mind – that made him escape and demand the reinstatement of the other agent's mind.

Well, shit. Perry was going to have to fix this, wasn't he. And it was going to involve talking and emotions, neither of which were his strong suit. Just great.

*****

“Ah, Agent P, I've been expecting you. He's in the upstairs guest room, under the bed. Do try to go easy on him,” Roger Doofenshmirtz said, waving the platypus agent inside his home. Perry huffed, passing by the man and heading for the stairs.

Why did everyone think he was coming to turn Heinz down? First Bea, then Carl, and now the mayor?! He growled. He knew he kept up a pretty good stoic facade, but he wasn't an emotionless rock or anything. Churr.

Perry peeked inside several rooms, until finally finding the right one. A long spotted tail peeked out from under the bed, and Perry – who'd silently snuck into the room, locking the door behind him – pondered his next course of action. Pull the other agent out, or go in himself. 

He sighed silently. If he wanted this to go anywhere, he supposed he should be nice. Getting down on all fours, he crawled under the bed and over to where the ocelot was curled in upon himself. He churred loudly, causing the despondent agent to jerk up suddenly, his head hitting the slats above him. 

Perry quickly suppressed a smile. So much for niceness.

'Perry the Platypus! Um, what are, um, you doing here?' Heinz asked nervously, his tail twitching as he rubbed the top of his head.

'Well, Ikindamissedyou,' Perry admitted quickly, causing the ocelot to narrow his eyes in confusion.

'Sorry, I didn't catch that.'

Perry groaned. 'I missed you,' he enunciated, his own cheeks heating as the ocelot's eyes widened. 

'You did? But I remember everything! You were constantly pushing me away... especially that last morning,' Heinz's ears flushed pink, and the two avoided eye contact for a long moment while Perry tried to find the right words.

'I didn't really mind,' he started, 'You weren't you. Not in your right mind. I wouldn't take advantage of you like that.'

Heinz's eyes met his as his ears perked forward. 'So, let me get this straight... you actually enjoyed all of that?'

Perry held up a paw. 'Not the constant shadowing or touching,' he warned, 'but I didn't mind – don't mind – it some of the time.'

A faint, cautious purr started unbidden in the background. Perry sighed, relaxing instantly, surprised at how much he had missed that constant sound.

'So... are you saying that you wouldn't mind starting a relationship with me?' Heinz asked slowly, voice hesitant but hopeful.

Perry laughed. 'Only if you wouldn't mind being in a relationship with me. I know how the gossips talk about my hardass ways.'

'Yeah, they kind of forget to mention that you're a suave, semi aquatic personification of unstoppable dynamic fury,' Heinz admitted huffily, even as Perry blushed. How was he even real?

'It was nice, being able to be near you without freaking out. That's why I avoided you before – I had the biggest crush on you, and I had no idea how to act on it,' Heinz confessed. 'I kept trying to work up the nerve to talk to you... but my courage always seemed to vanish once I'd set eyes on you.'

Perry smiled. 'I thought you hated me. I never imagined it was because you were shy.'

Heinz lowered his head, eyes downcast. 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you think I hated you.'

Perry rolled his eyes, reaching forward and scratching Heinz's favorite spot. The ocelot moaned, head pushing forward as he regarded Perry with half-slit eyes.

'So... does that mean we can cuddle again? I really liked that,' Heinz admitted. Perry grinned.

'Only if we do it on top of the bed. I'm not cuddling down here with the dust bunnies.'

Heinz's purring finally deepened at that, as he scrambled out from under the bed, Perry right behind.

**Author's Note:**

> This story does run on the premise that OWCA does genetically modify / enhance their animal agents, resulting in their higher intelligence and whatnot. 
> 
> This story is a sort of parallel to Agent O, but is not a part of that series. I just couldn't get the idea of them both being full animal agents out of my head, and this resulted.
> 
> If anyone is interested in seeing more of this little piece of fluff, I may continue it as inspiration strikes. But in any case, I'll see you on Weds for the next installment of Agent O!


End file.
